The Cliqset Interview – Darren Bounds Talks Direction

Cliqset is a product that most people have heard of, but usually have a hard time explaining. I got on the phone with Cliqset President Darren Bounds and chatted about what is happening at the Florida startup.

The best parts of what I saw are embargoed so tight, I almost had to wear a blindfold during the screencast. When those bits of Cliqset are done, we will be bringing them to you as fast as we can.

But Darren and I talked vision and direction more than simple feature upgrades. I’ll say it, Cliqset (CQ) has a grand goal of open, free, portable, real time data. With the niggling rise of proprietary or closed APIs, CQ is braving the trail in the right direction.

With their recent launch of the third beta of of the product, CQ has found a massive, continuing influx of new users. In conjunction with that, they also have seen a rise in the stickiness of the application, with user churn dropping dramatically. Third time was the charm.

Cliqset now supports some 70 services, with Posterous coming soon. This is one of Cliqset’s biggest strengths; whatever you use fits right in. Not just Twitter, but Revver and LibraryThing. Any data that wants to come in can, and it can leave just as freely.

The Cliqset team is now five people strong, with a rise in staff following their last funding round, which totalled $1.5 million. I am not sure how they code as quickly as they do, but I have a suspicion that this picture sums it up. The team likes their Coke to be Diet, apparently.

Cliqset is having a more difficulty converting FriendFeed users to the service, than it is bringing in Twitter and Facebook users. CQ is often compared to FriendFeed, which is a half-way fair comparison, but it seems that the legendarily fickle FriendFeed userbase has yet to glom on to Cliqset.

Cliqset is growing, and if you have not used it, you will. If you need someone to follow when you sign up, you can add me or Darren.